1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to slide fasteners and more particularly to a bridge top stop for slide fasteners.
2. Prior Art
As is well known in the art, the top stop of the type described is secured in place astride the top ends of a pair of oppositely disposed stringer tapes each carrying on and along its one longitudinal edge a row of interlocking fastener elements, to thereby restrict or terminate the movement of a slider when closing the fastener. Slide fasteners using bridge top stops are suitable especially for use on bags or pouches because the bridge top stop can prevent the top ends of the stringer tapes from being spread apart when the fastener is closed. One prevalent form of such bridge top stop is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 2,281,000, patented Apr. 28, 1942 and including a pair of generally tubular tape holding members connected at their upper ends by a relatively narrow transverse bridge portion, the tape holding members being adapted to be secured to the reinforced edges of stringer tapes, respectively. The known bridge top stop, however, is disadvantageous in that when clamped to the reinforced tape edges, the tape holding members tend to spread apart or move angularly about the bridge portion away from each other due to stresses applied, with the results that the top ends of the stringer tapes are crossed, rendering the slide fastener to become unsightly. Furthermore, the tape holding members thus spread apart cannot hold the reinforced tape edges positively, resulting in the risk of allowing the latter to get withdrawn from the former. The foregoing drawbacks have also occurred when a slider abuts against the bridge top stop to close the slide fastener or when the stringer tapes are subjected to severe lateral pull exerted during the use of the slide fastener.